• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, August 16, 2005

Marketing geniuses love the trick of getting TV producers to talk like advertising geeks. Accomplish that and they believe the whole will right itself; media planners and executives will all breathe a collective sigh of relief. They'll be understood.

In a story on the growth of late night cable programming, Rob Burnett, executive producer of "Late Show With David Letterman," has the vernacular down.

"What's extraordinarily valuable in TV right now [are] brands," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's a lot harder for newcomers to gain the audience that someone like Dave has."

Burnett certainly knows his stuff, but brands have to start somewhere. Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" took time to build into a brand. Burnett as president/CEO of the Worldwide Pants production company did the same for Craig Kilborn. Perhaps the next late night brand is around the corner.

Burnett's comments, of course, need to be taken in context. Kilborn originally hosted the "Daily Show" and then moved uptown to the bigger apartment at CBS with "The Late Late Show." Then all of a sudden he didn't want to be branded anymore, which had comedians and producers scratching their collective heads.

To give up your own show is to give up on your brand. Unless, of course, you are Captain Crunch but really feel more like Cheerios. Maybe Kilborn didn't see the value of his brand, but he surely had one.

Now D. L. Hughley, Adam Corolla, Stephen Colbert (from "Daily Show"), and none other than David Spade want what Kilborn gave up - a late-night, young skewing talk show brand association.

Cable networks have been a training ground for all types of shows - a benevolent trainer at that. Success isn't demanded on the first day for a cable network; they are far more forgiving than a broadcast network or syndicated show. Racy material is allowed and at Comedy Central encouraged, especially if you can pull in the network's favorite demo group: young men.

Here's the problem: Thinking like a brand manager and being a TV producer could create an identity crisis. And what will that give you?

We're not too sure. Maybe fewer jokes about spam, the Sprint PCS advertising guy, or MasterCard. The problem is I need to laugh.

That's priceless.